Kiwanis Club Gives $15,000 to School Libraries

After Kiwanis Club president Mickey McRae handed a $15,000 check to the Hermosa Beach City School District school board members at a meeting on Wednesday, school board president Lisa Claypoole continued to repeat two words: "Thank you."

"Every time they show up, something great happens," she said about the Kiwanis Club's civic support at the school board meeting.

The money was raised at last month's Taste at the Beach, and is intended to benefit the Hermosa school libraries.

Tickets for the citywide culinary affair cost $60. Attendees also participated in a silent auction, which generated cash for the libraries.

"We hope this helps some kids, as far as the libraries are concerned, with keeping them open so they have some place safe to go to," McRae said.

In the past, the libraries at Hermosa Valley School and Hermosa View School were open before, during and after classes for students. But with financial cutbacks, the district couldn't afford to keep the libraries open for those seven to eight-hour days.

As a result, the libraries' hours were shortened. With this new support, the school board looks forward to extending students' access to the libraries for the new school year.

"I'd like to add my thanks to the Kiwanis for doing this," said Superintendent Bruce Newlin.

More than 80 percent of Hermosa's students were reported as being "advanced" or "proficient" in English-language arts and mathematics, according to the 2010 STAR test results.

Newlin said that the school board hopes expanded access to the libraries' books and computers will continue to nurture students' high-level performance.